Having made a wooden belly to appear pregnant,Ciñca made a lewd accusation in the midst of the gathering.The Lord of Sages defeated her with peaceful, gracious means:By the power of this, may you have victory blessings.

A paribbājikā of some ascetic Order. When the heretics of this Order found that their gains were grown less owing to the popularity of the Buddha, they enlisted the support of Ciñcā in their attempts to discredit him. She was very beautiful and full of cunning, and they persuaded her to pretend to pay visits to the Buddha at Jetavana. She let herself be seen going towards the vihāra in the evening, spent the night in the heretics' quarters near by, and in the morning men saw her returning from the direction of the vihāra. When questioned, she said that she had passed the night with the Buddha. After some months she simulated pregnancy by tying a disc of wood round her body and appearing thus before the Buddha, as he preached to a vast congregation, she charged him with irresponsibility and callousness in that he made no provision for her confinement. The Buddha remained silent, but Sakka’s throne was heated and he caused a mouse to sever the cords of the wooden disc, which fell to the ground, cutting Ciñcā’s toes. She was chased out of the vihāra by those present, and as she stepped outside the gate the fires of the lowest hell swallowed her up (DhA.iii.178f; J.iv.187f; ItA.69).

In a previous birth, too, she had helped in various ways to harm the Bodhisatta. For details see:

Culla-Paduma Jātaka (No.193)

Mahā-Paduma Jātaka (No.472)

Bandhana-mokkha Jātaka (No.120)

Vānarinda Jātaka (No.57)

Vessantara Jātaka (No.547)

Sumsumāra Jātaka (No.208)

Suvannakakkata Jātaka (No. 389)

It is stated (Ap.i.299; UdA.263f) that the Buddha was subjected to the ignominy of being charged by Ciñcā with incontinence, because in a previous birth he had reviled a Pacceka Buddha. v.l. Ciñcī; cp. Sundarī.

She listened to the persuasions of her colleagues, the heretics, and would be seen in the evenings going towards Jetavana with garlands, perfumes, fruits, etc. When asked where she was going, she would reply that she was going to spend the night in the Buddha’s cell. She would then spend it in a neighbouring monastery of the Paribbājakas and be seen again early in the morning coming from the direction of Jetavana. After some days, the heretics hired some villains to kill Sundarī and hide her body under a heap of rubbish near Jetavana. Then they raised a hue and cry and reported to the king that Sundarī was missing. A search was made, and her body was found near the Gandhakuti of the Buddha. Placing the body on a litter, they went about the streets of the city crying: “Behold the deeds of the Sākyan monks!” As a result, the monks were subjected to great insults in the streets. For seven days the Buddha stayed in the Gandhakuti, not going to the city for alms, and Ānanda even suggested that they should go to another city.

But the Buddha pointed out to him the absurdity of running away from a false report, and said that in seven days the truth would be known. The king employed spies, who found the murderers quarrelling among themselves after strong drink. They were seized and brought before the king, where they confessed their crime. The king sent for the heretics and compelled them to retract their accusations against the Buddha and his monks and to confess their own wickedness. They were then punished for murder. Ud.iv.8; UdA.256ff.; DhA.iii.474f.; SNA.ii.528f.; J.ii.415f

It is said (Ap.i.299; UdA.263) that once the Bodhisatta was a pleasure seeker named Munāli. One day he saw Surabhi, a Pacceka Buddha, putting on his outer robe just outside the city. Near by a woman was walking, and Munāli said in jest, “Look, this recluse is no celibate, but a rake.” It was this utterance of the Bodhisatta that brought to the Buddha, as retribution, the disgrace in connection with Sundarī.

The Dutthaka Sutta and the Manisūkara Jātaka were preached in this connection.

Saccaka, whose provocative views had abandoned the truth,Delighting in argument, had become thoroughly blind.The Lord of Sages defeated him with the light of discernment:By the power of this, may you have victory blessings.

Buddhaghosa says (MA.i.450; cf. J.iii.1, where Sivāvatikā is called Avavādakā) that both his parents were Niganthas, skilled debaters, who married at the suggestion of the Licchavis, because they were unable to defeat each other in argument. The Licchavis provided for their maintenance. Four daughters were born to them: Saccā, Lolā, Patācārā and Sivāvatikā. These engaged in a discussion with Sāriputta, and were defeated by him. Having then entered the Order, they became arahants. Saccaka was their brother and was the youngest of them. He was a teacher of the Licchavis and lived at Vesāli.

When Saccaka was defeated by the Buddha as stated in the Cūla-Saccaka Sutta, one of the Licchavis, Dummukha, compared him to a crab in a pool, its claws being smashed one after the other and unable to return to the pool. Saccaka, owned defeat, and begged the Buddha to take a meal at his house. The Buddha agreed, and Saccaka became his follower (M.i.234f).

It is said (MA.i.469f) that, in a later birth, long after the Buddha’s death, Saccaka was born in Ceylon as the Thera Kāla Buddharakkhita and attained arahantship.

Saccaka, is identified with Senaka of the Mahā Ummagga Jātaka. J.vi.478.

Paññā: 'understanding, knowledge, understanding, insight', comprises a very wide field. The specific Buddhist knowledge or understanding, however, as part of the Noble 8-fold path magga to deliverance, is insight vipassanā, i.e. that intuitive knowledge which brings about the 4 stages of Nobility and the realization of Nibbāna see: ariya-puggala and which consists in the penetration of the impermanency anicca, misery dukkha see: sacca and impersonality anattā of all forms of existence. Further details, see: under tilakkhana.

With regard to the condition of its arising one distinguishes 3 kinds of knowledge knowledge based on thinking cintā-mayā-paññā knowledge based on learning suta-mayā-paññā knowledge based on mental development bhāvanā -mayā-paññā D. 33.

'Based on thinking' is that knowledge which one has accquired through one's own thinking, without having learnt it from others. 'Based on learning' is that knowledge which one has heard from others and thus acquired through learning. 'Based on mental development' is that knowledge which one has acquired through mental development in this or that way, and which has reached the stage of full concentration; appanā Vis.M XIV.

Wisdom is one of the 5 mental abilities see: bala one of the 3 kinds of training sikkhā, and one of the perfections see: pāramī For further details, see: vipassanā and the detailed exposition in Vis.M XIV, 1-32.

It's perhaps worth pointing out that the suttas with Saccaka involve deep and important Dhamma. And the same could be said about the suttas referenced in several other verses. This gatha is not just "The Buddha's greatest show tricks".

Nandopananda was a serpent with great power but wrong views.The Lord of Sages defeated him by means of a display of marvels,sending his son (Moggallana), the serpent-elder, to tame him:By the power of this, may you have victory blessings.

A Nāga king, tamed by Moggallāna. The Buddha and five hundred monks, on their way to Tāvatimsa one morning, travelled over the Nāga king's abode as he was having a meal. In anger, the Nāga coiled round Sineru and covered the road to Tāvatimsa..

Thereupon several members of the Buddha's retinue, including Ratthapāla, Bhaddiya and Rāhula, offered to quell the Nāga's power, but the Buddha would not agree until Moggallāna sought permission to do so. It is said that no other monk had the power to face all the dangers created by the Naga and remain unscathed. Moggallanā and Nandopananda vied with one another in the exhibition of their iddhi power, and, in the end, Nandopananda had to acknowledge defeat. He was thereupon conducted to the Buddha, whose follower he became. When Anāthapindika heard of Moggallana's victory, he celebrated it by holding a great alms festival, lasting for seven days, for the Buddha and his monks. ThagA.ii.188f.; J.v.126.

In the Divyāvadāna (p.395) Nanda and Upananda are spoken of as two Nāga kings.

105. Here the Elder Tipiþaka Cú¿a-Nága said: “But, friends, why does what isclung to not become small and big too? When a bhikkhu comes out through akeyhole, does not what is clung to become small? And when he makes his bodybig, does it not then become big, as in the case of the Elder Mahá Moggallána?”

106. At one time, it seems, when the householder Anáthapióðika had heardthe Blessed One preaching the Dhamma, he invited him thus, Venerable sir, takealms at our house together with five hundred bhikkhus,” and then he departed.The Blessed One consented. When the rest of that day and part of the night hadpassed, he surveyed the ten-thousandfold world element in the early morning.Then the royal nága (serpent) called Nandopananda came within the range ofhis knowledge.

107. The Blessed One considered him thus: “This royal nága has come intothe range of my knowledge. Has he the potentiality for development?” Then hesaw that he had wrong view and no confidence in the Three Jewels. [399] Heconsidered thus, “Who is there that can cure him of his wrong view?” He sawthat the Elder Mahá Moggallána could. Then when the night had turned todawn, after he had seen to the needs of the body, he addressed the venerableÁnanda: “Ánanda, tell five hundred bhikkhus that the Perfect One is going ona visit to the gods.”

108. It was on that day that they had got a banqueting place ready forNandopananda. He was sitting on a divine couch with a divine white parasolheld aloft, surrounded by the three kinds of dancers[18] and a retinue of nágas,and surveying the various kinds of food and drink served up in divine vessels.Then the Blessed One so acted that the royal nága saw him as he proceededdirectly above his canopy in the direction of the divine world of the Thirty-three,accompanied by the five hundred bhikkhus.

109. Then this evil view arose in Nandopananda the royal nága: “There gothese bald-headed monks in and out of the realm of the Thirty-three directly overmy realm. I will not have them scattering the dirt off their feet on our heads.” Hegot up, and he went to the foot of Sineru. Changing his form, he surrounded itseven times with his coils. Then he spread his hood over the realm of the Thirty-three and made everything there invisible.

110. The venerable Raþþhapála said to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, standingin this place formerly I used to see Sineru and the ramparts of Sineru,[19] and theThirty-three, and the Vejayanta Palace, and the flag over the Vejayanta Palace.Venerable sir, what is the cause, what is the reason, why I now see neither Sinerunor ... the flag over the Vejayanta Palace?”—“This royal nága calledNandopananda is angry with us, Raþþhapála. He has surrounded Sineru seventimes with his coils, and he stands there covering us with his raised hood,making it dark.”—“I will tame him, venerable sir.” But the Blessed One wouldnot allow it. Then the venerable Bhaddiya and the venerable Ráhula and all thebhikkhus in turn offered to do so, but the Blessed One would not allow it.

111. Last of all the venerable Mahá Moggallána said, “I will tame him, venerablesir.” The Blessed One allowed it, saying, “Tame him, Moggallána.” The elderabandoned that form and assumed the form of a huge royal nága, and hesurrounded Nandopananda fourteen times with his coils and raised his hoodabove the other’s hood, and he squeezed him against Sineru. The royal nágaproduced smoke. The elder said, “There is smoke not only in your body butalso in mine,” and he produced smoke. The royal nága’s smoke did not distressthe elder, but the elder’s smoke distressed the royal nága. Then the royal nágaproduced flames. The elder said, “There is fire not only in your body but also inmine,” and he produced flames. The royal nága’s fire did not distress the elder,but the elder’s fire distressed the royal nága.

112. The royal nága thought, “He has squeezed me against Sineru, and he hasproduced both smoke and flames.” Then he asked, “Sir, who are you?”—“I amMoggallána, Nanda.”—“Venerable sir, resume your proper bhikkhu’s state.” Theelder abandoned that form, and he went into his right ear and came out from his leftear; then he went into his left ear and came out from his right ear. Likewise he wentinto his right nostril and came out from his left nostril; then he went into his leftnostril and came out from his right nostril. Then the royal nága opened his mouth.The elder went inside it, and he walked up and down, east and west, inside his belly.

113. The Blessed One said, “Moggallána, Moggallána, beware; this is amighty nága.” The elder said, “Venerable sir, the four roads to power have beendeveloped by me, repeatedly practiced, made the vehicle, made the basis,established, consolidated, and properly undertaken. I can tame not onlyNandopananda, venerable sir, but a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousandroyal nágas like Nandopananda.”

114. The royal nága thought, “When he went in the first place I did not seehim. But now when he comes out I shall catch him between my fangs and chewhim up.” Then he said, “Venerable sir, come out. Do not keep troubling me bywalking up and down inside my belly.” The elder came out and stood outside.The royal nága recognized him, and blew a blast from his nose. The elder attainedthe fourth jhána, and the blast failed to move even a single hair on his body. Theother bhikkhus would, it seems, have been able to perform all the miracles up tonow, but at this point they could not have attained with so rapid a response,which is why the Blessed One would not allow them to tame the royal nága.

115. The royal nága thought, “I have been unable to move even a single hair onthis monk’s body with the blast from my nose. He is a mighty monk.” The elderabandoned that form, and having assumed the form of a supaóóa, he pursued theroyal nága demonstrating the supaóóa’s blast. [401] The royal nága abandonedthat form, and having assumed the form of a young brahman, he said, “Venerablesir, I go for refuge to you,” and he paid homage at the elder’s feet. The elder said,“The Master has come, Nanda; come, let us go to him.” So having tamed the royalnága and deprived him of his poison, he went with him to the Blessed One’s presence.

116. The royal nága paid homage to the Blessed One and said, “Venerable sir,I go for refuge to you.” The Blessed One said, “May you be happy, royal nága.”Then he went, followed by the Community of Bhikkhus, to Anáthapióðika’shouse. Anáthapióðika said, “Venerable sir, why have you come so late?”—“Therewas a battle between Moggallána and Nandopananda.”—“Who won, venerablesir? Who was defeated?”—“Moggallána won; Nanda was defeated.”Anáthapióðika said, “Venerable sir, let the Blessed One consent to my providingmeals for seven days in a single series, and to my honouring the elder for sevendays.” Then for seven days he accorded great honour to the five hundredbhikkhus with the Enlightened One at their head.

117. So it was with reference to this enlarged form created during this tamingof Nandopananda that it was said: “When he makes his body big, does it notthen become big, as in the case of the Elder Mahá Moggallána?” (§105). Althoughthis was said, the bhikkhus observed, “He enlarges only what is not clung tosupported by what is clung to.” And only this is correct here.[20]

19. “‘The ramparts of Sineru’: the girdle of Sineru. There are, it seems, four rampartsthat encircle Sineru, measuring 5,000 leagues in breadth and width. They were built toprotect the realm of the Thirty-three against nágas, garudas, kumbhaóðas and yakkhas.They enclose half of Sineru, it seems” (Vism-mhþ 394).

20. “Only this is correct because instances of clung-to (kammically acquired) materialitydo not arise owing to consciousness or to temperature. Or alternatively, ‘clung-to’ isintended as all matter that is bound up with faculties (i.e. ‘sentient’), too. And so totake it as enlargement of that is likewise not correct. Consequently, enlargementshould be understood only in the way stated. Though the clung-to and the unclung-tooccur, as it were, mixed up in a single continuity, they are nevertheless not mixed up inmeaning. Herein, just as when a pint measure (á¿haka) of milk is poured into a numberof pints of water, though the milk becomes completely mixed up with the water, and ispresent appreciably in all, it is nevertheless not the milk that has increased there, butonly the water. And so too, although the clung-to and unclung-to occur mixed uptogether, it is nevertheless not the clung-to that is enlarged. It should be taken that itis the consciousness-born matter that is enlarged by the influence of the supernormalpower, and the temperature-born is enlarged pari passu” (Vism-mhþ 395).

His hands bound tight by the serpent of wrongly held views,Baka, the Brahma, thought himself pure in his radiance & power.The Lord of Sages defeated him by means of his words of knowledge:By the power of this, may you have victory blessings.

A Brahmā. When the Buddha was once staying at Ukkatthā in the Subhagavana, he read the thoughts of Baka, who had conceived the idea that this world was permanent and free from decay and death; and the Buddha visited him in order to point out his error.

Baka welcomed the Buddha but, owing to the influence of Māra, refused to acknowledge his error, until the Buddha, by the exercise of his magical power, prevented Baka from disappearing from sight, while he himself dissolved into complete darkness. The Buddha then proceeded to tell him of four incidents connected with his previous birth as Kesava (M.i.326ff.; S.i.142ff).

Baka was once born in a noble family, but he renounced the world and became an ascetic named Kesava. One day, seeing a caravan in distress in the desert, by his supernatural power he turned a river into the desert, thereby rescuing the members of the caravan. On another occasion, while staying on the banks of the river Enī, near a frontier village, he found the village being attacked by dacoits, whom he drove away by causing them to see a vision of the royal police approaching, with himself at their head. On another day he saw people floating down the river in boats, making merry, singing and drinking. The Nāga of the river, incensed at their behaviour, appeared before them, threatening destruction. Kesava, assuming the form of a Garuda, frightened the Nāga away. The fourth incident is related in the Kesava Jātaka. The Bodhisatta, known as Kappa, was the pupil of Kesava. Kesava, practising meditation, developed the fourth jhāna and was born in the Vehapphala world. While there he developed the third jhāna and was born in the Subhakinha world. Thence he descended to the Abhassara world, and, later, by practising the first jhāna, he was reborn in the same world, but with a span of life of only a single kappa (J.iii.358 ff.; SA.i.164 f.; MA.i.553 ff).

Bakabrahma Sutta

Relates the story of the Buddha’s visit to Baka and the conversation between Baka and the Buddha on that occasion. The incidents of Baka’s previous life are referred to but without detail (S.i.142 f). Cp. Brahmanimantika Sutta.

This sutta cannot be identical with the Bakabrahma Sutta mentioned in Theragāthā Commentary and quoted there in full (ii. 185 f). It is stated there that once when the Buddha was at Jetavana a certain Brahmā conceived the view that no monk or recluse could come to his world. The Buddha, aware of this, went to the Brahma world and stood in the air enveloped in flame.

He was followed by Moggallāna, Kassapa, Kappina and Anuruddha. Moggallāna asked the Brahmā if he still held the same view, to which he replied that he no longer thought that he was eternal. (This shows that the Brahmā of the story was most probably Baka.)

When the Buddha and his followers had departed, the Brahmā sent one of his retinue to Moggallāna to find out if there were other disciples of the Buddha as mighty as he. Moggallāna’s answer was that there were many such (the sutta is given at S.i.144 ff., but there the name given is “Aparāditthi” Sutta).

These are interesting, and deep, suttas. As Bhikkhu Bodhi notes, MN 49 can be interpreted as a dramatic representation of the abstract ideas from MN 1, and "Baka the Brahma may be taken to represent being (bhava) or personality (sakkaya) in its most eminent form."

These eight verses of the Buddha's victory blessings:Whatever person of discernmentRecites or recalls them day after day without lapsing,Destroying all kinds of obstacles,Will attain emancipation & happiness.